


Tightened Ties

by doublejoint



Series: peachtober 2020 [10]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen, Past Character Death, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:15:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26938009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doublejoint/pseuds/doublejoint
Summary: Byakuya, Rukia, and the koi pond
Relationships: Kuchiki Byakuya & Kuchiki Rukia
Series: peachtober 2020 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953295
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Tightened Ties

**Author's Note:**

> #peachtober day 10: Pet
> 
> brief mentions of past byakuya/hisana

The koi stop disappearing after the war. Rukia hadn’t really noticed it when they were, except for Byakuya’s occasional complaint disguised as an inquiry, but she’s spending more and more time in the garden now that the weather’s nice, and she knows all the koi by now, from the shy one who swims at the back to the slower one who is the first to hopefully beg for food. She should have been paying more attention before--but she’d had so much to do, so much to prepare for, so much to pressure herself into doing.

Byakuya has more of that, though, and puts more on himself; despite their different upbringings they’re the same in this way. And they both find the same thing, Rukia suspects, in zoning out and watching the koi swim this way and that, circle each other, come to the surface and then go back down when they give up on the idea of food for now. 

He sits down beside her, wordlessly, a cup of hot water in each hand. She takes the one he offers to her with a nod of thanks; there’s a bit of a chill in the air today. The sky is overcast, but it does not threaten rain, and they’re mere meters away from the house, anyway. 

“Do you think we should get more?”

Rukia considers the question. The pond is a comfortable size for the koi who occupy it now, and since the population is stable, they don’t need more. She sips on the water; it’s not quite hot enough to scald her tongue, and the warmth spreads inside her.

“Do you want more?”

“We should have some white ones.”

He stares at the pond. Rukia waits; there’s an explanation, but Byakuya’s still carefully rearranging the words in his mind. They’re both bad at bringing up difficult subjects, though less so than they were two, five, ten years ago. She takes another sip of water.

“We used to have white koi, as well as gold.” He glances up at the plum tree above them.

“You and HIsana.”

“Yes.”

Another pause, but this time Rukia is the one who really doesn't know what to say. She can’t really say anything about a person who she doesn’t remember, a person toward whom she’s not sure what she should feel, and what she does feel. She’s never sure if she should bring up the subject, but Byakuya does so rarely, even though he clearly wants to, and regardless of the past, if she can help Byakuya keep her memory alive, it’s not a question of whether she’ll do it or not.

“They died off eventually. I meant to get more from the breeder, but--she always went with me.”

“Ah.” Then, “I don’t know much about koi, but I can come with you if you’d like.”

“Thank you.”

* * *

The koi breeder lives within walking distance of the manor, conveniently enough; they visit on their next shared free afternoon, Byakuya walking more squarely than usual, and Rukia, in turn, walking closer to him. He won’t collapse suddenly, or burst into tears, or turn around and walk back home, no matter how much he wants to, but he can be so inwardly-focused sometimes that Rukia feels the need to remind him that she’s there. After all, that’s what she’s here for. She likes koi, but she has no idea how to select one out of dozens--hundreds?--however many the breeder has, what qualities are important (Byakuya had offered her a book about koi care when she’d first started spending more time with them, but Rukia had found it dry and dull and had not been able to find it in the library again), and what qualities are important to Byakuya. She knows her purpose is to be there with Byakuya, so he doesn’t have to do it alone, and though he wants her to know that he does not want to say it in so many words.

Byakuya exchanges pleasantries with the breeder, a man dressed in traditional but very ornate clothes, and Rukia greets him politely.

“We’re still a few weeks away before the next set of goldens is ready,” he says. “But you can certainly see them now if you’d like.”

“I’d like to see the platinums,” says Byakuya, voice firm. “If you don’t mind.”

“Oh! Yes, it’s been a while, but that’s true, you did buy some before--let me see, I do believe we have the same breeding pair as the last time--yes, yes,” says the breeder. “We do have some lovely ones that are ready for purchase.”

Byakuya and Rukia follow him into the back garden, greeted by the sound of running water and the sight of many, many levels of koi ponds built into the landscape, like a maze. They stop in front of one of the larger ponds, and there, the breeder lifts a fish from the water, long and snow-white, before launching into a speech about lineage, behavior, and diet that Byakuya seems fascinated by. Several other koi swim up to look at them; the surface of the water is rippling but they all appear to be completely white, bright against the dark bottom of the pond. Rukia smiles. 

“We’ll take all of them,” Byakuya decides. 

“All of them?”

“All of them.”

They can afford the price, though it seems a tad excessive--but Byakuya seems satisfied, so she supposes it’s worth it.

* * *

The white koi flit through the pond like lanterns, like little ghosts, their sparkling complementary to the gold ones. There’s no problem fitting them all in, and the only real logistical change is that they have to buy more fish food. But it’s nice having some variety, and, well--they do make Byakuya happy. And Rukia, too, feels somehow a little more connected to the memory of Hisana, a little more connected to a person who, more than anything, was and is so important to her brother. Like she understands Byakuya a little better. 

Maybe, someday, they can get some black or calico koi, too.


End file.
